The Story of Us
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: <html><head></head>The story of how Natasha and her guys became the group that we see in "Post-Mission Natasha." *story's better than summary! Five-shot prequel to "Post-Mission Natasha." features polyandry*</html>
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is: posted nearly five months after "Post-Mission Natasha," the prequel, "The Story of Us" - and it's turned out to be longer than I thought it was going to be. Hopefully you guys enoy!:)**

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><p>Clint and Natasha, Natasha and Clint. That's how it had always been between them. They didn't need anyone else. Sure, Coulson was there in the wings, and he cared, but strike team Delta didn't <em>need <em>him. But it was nice to have people around. It had grown on Natasha especially since the Avengers had moved into the Tower after defeating Loki.

After their first unusual meeting in Calcutta, Natasha could admit that Bruce had become a special friend of hers. She loved Clint so much that, even though they were only quietly together, he might as well have been her husband – of course she did, after everything that they'd been through together, but it was Bruce who could get her to laugh, to see the bright side of things. Without quite noticing that it had happened, she had begun to need Dr. Bruce Banner – and much in the same way that she needed Clint… but she still loved her partner. So she shoved away her blossoming feelings for Bruce, leaving them totally unacknowledged – she was good at leaving feelings unacknowledged – and went about her life.

But she should've known better than to try and hide anything about herself from Clint Barton. He knew that she had fallen for Bruce. She knew that he knew it, and it only made her feel – unacknowledged, of course – worse about the whole situation. The thing was, though, that Natasha didn't realize that Clint had figured out something that she hadn't.

Bruce was falling for Natasha too.

Only, now they had to figure out what to do about it. It was Clint who came up with the unusual idea, and he mulled it over to himself for weeks before becoming okay with it in his own right and deciding to mention it to Natasha. Bruce and Natasha had both decided – each to themselves, it seemed – that it would be better to just let their emotions go without recognition. Clint, however, knew at least Natasha well enough to realize as he watched her over time that this wasn't healthy – probably not for her or Bruce, for that matter. So he came up with a solution – and now he had to approach his partner about it.

"Hey, Tasha?" Clint started, blinking as he held the punching bag in the training room steady while his partner took another swing at it. "I want to talk to you about something, and I need you to hear me out with an open mind."

Natasha's head was bent as she pounded into the punching bag, but she glanced up at him unsuspectingly, cocking her eyebrow before answering, "Okay…?"

"Bruce."

Natasha stilled for all of a split second before asking, "What about him?"

"The two of you are… in love - No; you promised not to interrupt me, so listen - and trying not to be is making you both unhappy. I want you to be happy, Natasha. Heck, Bruce is a part of the team, I want him to be happy too. Better for the Hulk that way, too, I guess. And I think I know a way that we can all be happy. Now, let me make this perfectly clear: I am straighter than my own arrows, so I'm not suggesting a threesome. But what I am suggesting is that you, how to put this…?I'm suggesting that the three of us - you, me, and Bruce - try you dating both me and Bruce, separately but at the same time. Don't look at me like that, Tasha; I'm only saying that I think you - we - should give it a try. See if it might be a workable solution. If not, then fine; we'll deal with crossing that bridge when we come to it. But I don't want anyone to be miserable because they shut themselves off from all options without giving anything that might work - even if it is different - a chance. I want you to consider it - seriously give it some thought - and then we'll go from there as to whether or not we bring the idea to Bruce. Promise me, you'll think about it, Nat."

The first time Natasha opened her mouth a squeak came out. The second time it was a scoff. The third time she managed a stunned, "Okay." And then she asked suddenly, her voice an octave or three higher than normal, "What the heck do you think Bruce is going to say about this?! If we ask him, of course… And the rest of the team!"

"'The rest of the team' doesn't have to know a thing about it unless we decide that we want them to. As for Bruce… I don't know. But it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it? The worst thing he could do would be to say no, right?"

"Right," Natasha eventually agreed, and to look in her eyes, Clint could see her initial shock at the idea gradually slipping away to be replaced by honest thoughtfulness.

And so, it wasn't too many weeks afterward that Clint and Natasha went to Bruce's level to propose the idea to him. They had asked Jarvis to inform them when the doctor left the labs for the evening and returned to his quarters, and even though the alert came later than expected, they went anyway. Considering the "now or never" feelings that had been bouncing between strike team Delta all day, neither one of them was particularly willing to take a chance on losing their nerve. So they went.

Bruce was in his kitchen scrounging around for something that might resemble a meal when they stepped off of the elevator. When Clint and Natasha reached the kitchen, he was just taking a container of soup out of the microwave.

It was all so very normal, and yet here they were about to propose something that was anything _but _normal.


	2. Chapter 2

**My poll is still up, and I'd really appreciate votes on it! Thanks!:)**

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><p>Banner acknowledged them with a small smile as he set the plastic bowl on the counter, saying, Jarvis told me to expect you. I skipped lunch; do you mind if I go ahead and eat?"<p>

"That's fine," Natasha said as she and Clint slid onto barstools across from Bruce.

He said, "So, am I correct in assuming that there's something that you two want to talk to me about?"

Natasha looked nervously to Clint who, returning her gaze, gestured towards Bruce and said casually, "Go ahead, Nat."

"This was your idea!"

"But it has a lot more to do with you than me."

"Not really."

Bruce broke in with upraised eyebrows, a short whistle to remind them of his presence, and a question, "What idea?"

Casting a nearly pleading look at an uncooperative Clint, Natasha sighed and began to explain the solution that Clint had come up with. Bruce leaned back against the counter, eyes thoughtful as he ate but otherwise kept his mouth shut and listened. Clint sat off to the side, silent and observing the other two. In contrast to Natasha's original reaction when Clint brought this solution to her, Bruce remained very calm throughout the whole monologue.

When Natasha had finished her spiel, Bruce turned to Clint and asked with that same extremely thoughtful expression on his face, "You were the one to come up with this idea… solution?" Clint nodded and Bruce, seeming satisfied – if not a little surprised – with the reply, asked another question, "Is it okay if I have a little while to think about it?"

"Of course," Natasha answered. "We're actually going in to start a new mission tomorrow, and we've already been warned that it might take awhile. That might help you to be able to take a step back and be… I dunno… logical? Scientific?"

"Help me analyze the situation?" Bruce suggested. Natasha nodded and Bruce said, "Maybe so."

"Well, I guess we'll get to see, won't we?" Clint asked.

Bruce just nodded again, his eyelids fluttering. Clint's gaze darted to the clock on the microwave, and he brushed his fingertips against Natasha's elbow, suggesting, "Why don't we leave Doc to sleep before he passes out on the tile."

She nodded in agreement and slid down from her chair, trailing behind Clint to the elevator. Bruce followed them and when the elevator doors started to close between Bruce and the other two, Natasha said almost sweetly, "Good night; we'll talk when we get back from our mission, alright?"

Bruce nodded, repeating her "good night" and then they were gone.

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><p>For an entire month.<p>

This gave Bruce more than enough time to think over the proposition of the unusual arrangement that Natasha and Clint had approached him with – enough time to come to a conclusion about what he wanted to do – but by the end of the month he was getting worried for them.

Did their missions usually take them away for this long at a time? Before now, Bruce was ashamed to say that he'd never really bothered to notice. They were his friends and his teammates – and he felt even more for Natasha then what those titles might entail – but he'd never really paid attention to their absences from their tower. Sure, he'd noticed when they actually _had _been at the Tower, but their random disappearances for missions hadn't bothered him one way or the other – until now, apparently.

Eventually, on the fifth time that he'd asked Agent Hill about when they were going to return, she'd told him to stop worrying and that she'd tell him when they were heading back to New York. Bruce had been smart enough to do as told and content himself with the answer he'd been given.

And finally, towards the beginning of the fifth week, he answered his cell phone to that much anticipated call.

"Thanks for calling," Bruce said, taking his glasses off and tucking them into his pocket as he kept his phone to his ear with the other hand. "Is it alright if I come and pick them up personally? Alright. Would you mind telling them I'm coming? I'll be there in twenty minutes." He thanked her again and hung up before turning to Tony who was very busy looking like he hadn't been listening in to the conversation, and asking, "Do you mind if I borrow a car?"

"Fine by me," Tony replied without looking up from the plethora of parts scattered across his work table. "Are Spidey and Legolas headed home?"

"Yeah; I'm going to go pick them up."

Tony nodded without further comment and Bruce took that as his dismissal, heading towards the garage. Stopping by a ridiculously long line of pegs at the garage's entrance – each of which held a set of keys – Bruce grabbed the keys for the car that he used more often than any of the others – at least when he wanted to go unnoticed – and slid behind the wheel of a silver Hyundai azera.

He wasn't quite sure why he was in such a hurry to see Natasha – and even Clint – again, just that he wanted to get the conversation that they needed to have out of the way. He also knew that he would rather not have that conversation in the Tower; Tony had already noticed how antsy his "science bro" had gotten in the past couple of weeks, and nobody needed the other man getting even more suspicious of what was going on. Although Bruce highly doubted that even Tony would stumble upon the correct guess, even if he were in the mood to try.

By the time Bruce reached SHIELD's base, he had managed to calm down considerably and formulate something of a plan… providing that strike team Delta was presentable when they got in the car.

And by some gift of God they were, Bruce saw when he laid eyes on them, seeing them before they saw him. He waved from across the parking lot, catching their attention. They were surprised to see him there, he realized, but they weren't stupid, so neither of them looked surprised when the first words out of his mouth once the three of them had gotten in the car were, "Can we go somewhere and talk?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you guys hungry?" Bruce asked. "I know of this really good Thai takeout place over in Harlem. It's a nice day; I thought we might be able to eat at the park."

Clint shrugged in the back seat and Natasha agreed, "Sure."

So they ordered food at the restaurant and then went to the park.

"I think it's your turn to start the conversation," Natasha informed Bruce when the trio had settled at a picnic table.

Nobody was in the mood to mince words, and for that Bruce was glad as he obligingly dived right in. "Obviously, I've thought long and hard about the suggestion you two brought to me, and I first want to know where you're both at with it now."

"We're both still open to it," Clint answered, realizing that Bruce was watching him particularly close.

"Good," Bruce answered slowly, eyes switching between Clint's and Natasha's steady gazes as he said, "So am I."

That simple statement coaxed small smiles from both of the agents across from Bruce, and Natasha reached out across the table, taking his hand and squeezing it gently as she told him, "I'm glad."

Bruce grinned - almost bashfully - at her then. He was glad too. Even Clint's smile, when he looked at Natasha's sparkling eyes, widened a little.

And Bruce exhaled with relief, allowing himself to loosen up and squeeze Natasha's hand as she had his. They held hands while the three of them finished their meal, and when Natasha was through before Clint and Bruce, her free hand slipped beneath the table. She was holding hands with Clint now, too, Bruce realized - but he couldn't bring himself to care. She was the doctor's girlfriend now, also, and if Clint was part of what made her happy, then he could definitely live with that. If it meant that he got to claim Natasha as his own, then it was more than worth it.

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><p>But that didn't mean that the situation was always easy.<p>

Although everyone on the team had figured out even by the end of the Chitauri attack that Clint and Natasha were together - and had been perfectly okay with it - none of the trio now involved wanted to try and explain that Clint and Natasha _and Bruce _were now a thing. So they didn't explain; they kept it under wraps and went on with their lives in the Tower.

Sure, there were the times when it was hard to keep the truth from their housemates. No, Bruce could not be held accountable for how overprotective the Hulk had suddenly gotten over the Black Widow when they were on team missions. Yes, Natasha had started spending more time than normal with Bruce, and, yes, Hawkeye and the scientist seemed to be trying harder than ever to form a solid friendship. They were all three teammates, weren't they?

That was the excuse that the trio gave when questioned, anyway.

But there was just no using that excuse when, one morning, Tony walked into Natasha's kitchen to find the trio eating breakfast - well, Clint was calmly eating cereal at the bar as Natasha and Bruce shared a good morning kiss at the sink.

Clint was the first to notice Tony standing in the kitchen doorway, mouth agape as he looked at his best friend and Natasha before his gaze slid towards Clint with a million questions in his eyes - all in the second before Bruce and Natasha broke off the casual kiss. Natasha noticed Tony's presence then, an unusual sheen of panic hitting her eyes. Having had his back to Tony, it was only once Bruce saw his girlfriend's expression that he turned around to see what had caused it. Realizing what the billionaire had just seen, the doctor turned numerous interesting colors and tried to form words to no avail.

So no one said a word until a slow smile began to grow on Tony's face as he realized exactly what was going on.

"Well," the grinning man declared. "This explains so, so much."

"Keep your mouth shut, Stark," Clint growled.

"Of course," Tony replied, heading back to the elevator.

"Tony," Bruce said desperately, hoping to drive home their desire for secrecy in this area.

"I know," Tony said dismissively, and when he stepped into the elevator he turned to them and mimed zipping his lips closed. "Your secret's safe with me."

And, miraculously, it was, except for one incident the day after Tony figured them out. The evening of the day after found a huge package being delivered to the Tower with Natasha's name on it.

"What in the world?" she muttered when Steve brought it up to her.

Clint was off on a mission, but Bruce was on Nat's level with her at the time and it was he who noticed the personalized note from the buyer on the receipt.

Steve, who had been helping Natasha peel away layer after layer of plastic from the box's contents, realized first, "It's a... couch."

"From Tony," Bruce said flatly, looking pointedly at Nat as he handed her the receipt.

She read the inappropriate, and totally _Tony_, comment concerning her multiple boyfriends with thinned lips and narrowed eyes before she crumpled the paper in her hand and shoved it inside her jeans' pocket with a muttered, "Screw you, Stark."

"Uh... Natasha?" The agent jumped, whirling to face Steve when she realized that he'd been looking over her shoulder - reading the note!

"What?" she snapped, tone sharp as she experienced a moment of panic when she considered how old-fashioned Captain America might react to her dating arrangement.

"You're...? Are you...?" Steve blushed, fumbling around with the question that he wanted to ask - the question that Natasha didn't want to answer.

"It's called polyandry," Bruce volunteered, everything about his manner surprisingly calm as he spoke. "It's widespread in parts of rural India, actually. I've been to one of those communities, spent quite a lot of time there one year. They're nice people, and it works for them. And it's working for us - Natasha, Clint, and I. So... please try to withhold judgement until you have something to base that judgement on," Bruce narrowed his eyes at Steve slowly as he added, "If you even think that we are wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

"I think..." Steve answered slowly, thoughtfully. "That it's an interesting idea - and, no, I'm not going to pass an undue judgement because it's... unusual. It's just different, but different can be okay sometimes too. So do with your life what you want to do, and unless I see someone getting hurt because of it, I'll keep my mouth shut and my nose out of your business. Is that good enough for you guys?"

"Very good," Natasha said with a relieved smile.

Still studying Steve, Bruce didn't say that he thought it might just be a little _too _good. But he did decide to have a talk with Clint when the other man got home.

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><p>"Does Steve have a girlfriend?"<p>

Startled by the sudden question from Bruce, who had been standing silently with Clint on the roof for a matter of minutes, the archer undershot his arrow and it landed amongst the gravel.

Moving to pick it up, Clint answered, "I don't think so; why?"

"Is there any chance - have you seen anything that might indicate - that he could be interested in Natasha?"

Clint looked over his shoulder at the scientist as he fit the arrow back into his bow and asked, "Why would you wonder about that?"

"Am I right to assume that Natasha told you when she went to pick you up from your mission earlier that Steve had found out about the three of us?"

"Yeah; so?"

"He... I don't know, and I'm not sure that I can explain the look in his eyes when he found out. Sure, he looked uncomfortable for a second - he is Captain America; and Natasha seems to think that he was only being accepting - but I think that when he found out that we were all okay with this multiple partner scenario, there was a little bit of... hope... in his eyes. I just wanted to see what your thoughts were on the two of them."

"I think that to a certain extent, every man in this Tower is a little in love with Tasha. It's just that Thor has Jane - and that he's on Asgard most of the time anyway. Tony's got Pepper, you and I have Tasha, but, yeah, Steve's got nobody, so... you're probably right."

"What should we do about it?"

"First question has to be where Tasha stands on the subject."

"He's _Captain America_; I doubt she would have any objections to Steve's… crush, or whatever it is."

"What if it means she gets into a third relationship?" Clint asked frankly, keeping his eyes locked on his target.

Bruce blew out a breath, answering slowly, "Then we'd put up with it for Natasha, just like we put up with each other."

"And Steve's probably easier to put up with then either one of us," Clint smirked. "Nah, scratch that. We already live with the guy; we know he's easier to put up with then us."

Bruce chuckled before he asked, "Do you really think that it could go that way though?"

"It's like you said; he's Cap, she's Tasha - and yeah, I've noticed some things before that make me think that it wouldn't be so farfetched to wonder if it might become something. Cap's… he's like a - what's the car part I'm thinking of? A catalytic converter. It's like this with the entire team. We've got our issues with ourselves and one another, but Cap kind of makes sure that we stay sane, doesn't he? Stark takes care of the gadgets and Steve takes care of the people. I think that Natasha really sees and appreciates that in him."

"So where does that leave you and I?"

"Needing to have a serious talk with our girl."

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><p>"I say we try this thing out," Clint declared later that evening, flinging the cushions off of their new couch and starting to pull out the hide-a-bed.<p>

"Movie night?" Natasha asked as she and Bruce moved to help her archer boyfriend get the bed unfolded.

"How about just talking instead," Clint suggested, flopping down on one side of the bed.

Bruce laid down on the opposite side and drew a suddenly nervous Natasha down between them.

"Why?" the assassin asked. "You never want to 'just talk. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong; it's just that Bruce and I have been noticing something kind of important that we'd like to talk to you about."

"What?" Natasha asked suspiciously, looking back and forth between her boys with narrowed eyes.

"It has come to our attention," Clint began, taking one of Natasha's hands. "That Cap seems to like you. Like Bruce and I like you."

Panic flashed in Natasha's eyes, and Bruce took her other hand, quickly reassuring her, "And Clint and I are fine with that. We talked about it, and we really do think that Steve's good for you… if that's an avenue that you'd be interested in pursuing with him. Especially after what he said the day we got this couch."

"Don't try telling us that there's not something there, Tasha," Clint continued. "We both see it, so there's no way that you don't. We're not telling you that you have to do one thing or another, we're just saying that it's okay with us if you do want to ask Steve about it. Don't panic, just think about it."

"And know that we love you now and forever either way," Bruce added.

Both he and Clint curled in closer to her, and Natasha snuggled in, content to be a little squished between them, since it helped to take her mind off of all of the Steve-related thoughts suddenly running rampant in her mind.

Though those thoughts concerning Steve - and how exactly she might actually manage having _three _boyfriends - never quite left her alone after that, Natasha didn't make a move until well over a month later. They were all a team, and that had to continue whether or not anyone was in a romantic relationship, let alone if any of those relationships happened and then failed. "Natalie Rushman" was hard enough to deal with sometimes, so Natasha wanted to be absolutely positive concerning what she wanted before she approached Steve. And so, she was that sure when she, Clint, and Bruce, asked Steve over to dinner almost five weeks after Clint and Bruce had brought the option up to her.


	5. Chapter 5

"You look nervous," Natasha remarked to the captain as the four of them made quick work of cleaning up the kitchen after their meal.

"I… get the feeling that you asked me to eat with you three for a reason, and yet I haven't heard what that is yet."

"Perceptive," Bruce said with a smile in Steve's direction.

Natasha knew for a fact that Bruce in particular felt for Steve, considering the way that she and Clint had practically ambushed him before they began their relationship. On Natasha's part, even though it sounded a little bad to say so considering the circumstances, she was glad to see that the three men could get along even with what they were here to talk about. It made her life so much easier that they were friends in their own right instead of just three men sharing one girl.

"So… what did you guys want?" Steve asked nervously.

"Not to kill you," Natasha deadpanned. "So feel free to relax any time; we're all friends here."

Clint suggested to her, "Why don't you just sit and talk; we'll take care of the dishes."

"Okay," Natasha agreed, tossing Steve the dishtowel that she had intended to use. She jumped up onto the counter and sat cross-legged, watching in silence for a minute while the men settled into a rhythm. Clint washed dishes, Steve dried them, Bruce put them away, and - eventually - Natasha began to try talking about the reason they'd asked Steve over. "You're right about us wanting to talk to you about something, Steve. The thing is… ah…"

And suddenly she couldn't think. Did she even need to spring this on Steve? Was it selfish of her to try having a corner on three of the best men she knew?

Bruce was the first to see her terror and he moved, handing her the dishes that he'd been putting away as he opted to do the talking for her. "Do you remember what you said the day you found out about Natasha, Clint, and I?"

"That it was your business and I wasn't going to judge."

"What I want to know is what you were _thinking _during that conversation." Steve got a panicked look in his eyes as Bruce continued, "I think I know, but I want to hear you say whether or not I'm right."

"Why?" Steve barely managed not to choke on the solitary word.

"Remember that no one is going to kill you," Natasha reminded the captain, turning her back to the conversation to put a plate in the cabinet.

"Because your answer makes a difference in the conversation," Bruce answered honestly.

"How so?" Steve asked, suddenly looking like he was starting to get an idea of where this conversation was headed.

"Steve," Bruce said pointedly.

"Why don't you guys just ask the question we want to ask," Clint suggested.

Steve took a deep breath, saying, "Why don't we all just restart the conversation and take Clint's suggestion. Natasha, was there something that you wanted to ask me?"

Natasha took a deep breath, saying in a rush, "I guess I'd ask if you thought if it was selfish for me to love you as much as I love Bruce and Clint, and to want the same thing with you that I have with them."

"What?" Steve stammered. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that…?"

"Third time's the charm?" Clint suggested with a teasing smirk.

"Not exactly," Natasha replied. "Just that maybe… three feels more complete than two?"

Steve answered slowly, "I think I could live with that - if you're offering what I think you are."

"I am," Natasha smiled before glancing at Clint and Bruce and amending, "Well, _we_ are offering it."

Clint turned from finishing the dishes and added in Steve's direction, "If you're willing to share our girl, that is."

"Of course you don't have to answer right now," Bruce added. "We can give you as much time as you need to think about it."

Steve paused looking at each of the three of them in turn, his gaze lingering on Natasha a little longer than the others. A genuine smile tilted at one corner of her mouth and Steve smiled himself as he asked, "Do I _have _to take time to think about it? What if I already know what my answer would be?"

The trio watching him let out a collective chuckle, and Clint said, "No use wasting the time then, I'd say. What do you think, Bruce?"

The doctor replied with a small, nearly teasing smile of his own in Steve's direction, "Oh, I would agree."

"Tasha?" Clint queried.

"I can definitely agree with that," Natasha seconded with a smile, going to wrap her arms around Steve's sturdy waist as she asked the captain, "Is that good with you?"

"Very good," Steve said, wrapping his own arms around her and placing a kiss to the top of her head.

He was surprised at this sudden turn of events, Natasha could tell, but also happy with it. And so was she. It could only be better if… and there they were, as if beckoned by her mere thought of them. Clint and Bruce came over to her and Steve, making a sort of triangular huddle around her. She rested her head on Steve's sturdy chest, feeling Bruce run his hand through her hair and Clint tracing patterns against her shoulder blades. Natasha just closed her eye and soaked it in. This just felt right for her. _She_ felt alright - even better than that; she felt good, safe, loved, and finally, finally whole.

These were her guys - her good, wonderful perfect men - who left her awed by their utterly endless, sacrificial love for her. They were the best part of her and they brought out the best in her. She loved them, they loved her, and nothing could be more perfect.

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><p><strong>Thus we come to the end of the story. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it! Reviews would make my day; thanks!:)<strong>


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